Talal K. Shair '90 joins American University of Beirut's board of trustees

The American University of Beirut (AUB) has announced that Talal Shair, chair of Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners), was elected to its board of trustees in April.

Shair has been a member of the Middle East Advisory Board of AUB’s Suliman S. Olayan School of Business since 2003. He also serves as a board member of the International College, a tri-language (English, French and Arabic) institution with students from pre-school through high school that shares its main campus with AUB.

In addition to his involvement with those two schools, Shair is a founding member of the BADER Young Enterpreneur’s Program. The program, which is the first of its kind in Lebanon, was established to provide a means for committed young entrepreneurs to contribute to economic growth by promoting small businesses and supporting less experienced entrepreneurs.

Shair attended AUB in 1983 and 1984 and earned his B.S.E. in civil engineering and operations research at Princeton in 1990. He went on to receive his master’s degree in structural and geotechnical engineering from Cornell University in 1995. After holding various key positions at Dar Al Handasah, including vice chairman of the board of directors, head of general management and operations, and overseeing the company’s global offices, Shair became chairman in 2008.

Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners), established in 1956, is now a multi-disciplinary engineering and design practice with 43 offices in 29 countries. It has planned, designed and implemented projects in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.